Mol borrows €825 mln, the greatest loan in its history

Hungarian oil and gas company Mol Nyrt said it borrowed €825 million from a group of banks led by Barclays Capital and Calyon, partly to finance earlier debt. The loan is for 5+1+1 years, and should be paid beck in one amount, its interest rate at the begining is EURIBOR plus 18 basis points the company said in a statement on the stock exchange Web site. The loan is Mol's biggest-ever denominated in euros, the company said. Mol will use the loan “for general corporate purposes” and to refinance a €600 million loan the company took out in 2003, Mol said in the statement. Budapest-based Mol is shifting its focus to crude oil and gas production after spending more than €800 million in five years buying filling stations and refineries in eastern Europe. The company bought 10% of its shares from Hungary in May to finance future acquisitions. Mol is borrowing 10% more than it previously planned after lenders oversubscribed the original loan, the company said in the statement today. Banks in the lending group include Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., BNP Paribas, ING Bank NV, KBC Bank NV, Barclays Bank Plc and Calyon, Mol said. Others in the group are BayernLB, Citibank NA, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg SA, Fortis Bank (Nederland) NV, HVB Bank Hungary Zrt, Morgan Stanley, The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, Raiffeisen Bank Zrt, Societe Generale, UBS Ltd., Vseobecna Uverova Banka AS, Sanpaolo Imi SpA and DZ Bank AG. (Bloomerg, VG online)